A Call to Arms
by Arctimon
Summary: From the realization to the declaration...comes a tale of a city banding together to take back their dimension, their lives...and their platypus.  Takes place during "Across the Second Dimension".  The final chapter is up!
1. Making The Call

_**_DISCLAIMER:_**_ Everything in this story is the property of other people much smarter than me.__

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1 - Making the Call<strong>_

"Candace, there's nothing we can do now. Perry told us to go home and stay there."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not taking orders from a platypus!"

Jeremy sighed. His girlfriend, Candace Flynn, was frantically pacing the length of her room. She had been agitated every since Perry had run off to deal with the robot invasion, and she showed no signs of getting better.

It had been a jarring experience, returning home from his college trip with his dad to find a giant portal on the tallest building in the Tri-State Area spilling out robots left and right. His dad was driving them past the park, marveling at the sight, when his son had spotted Candace, her brothers, and their gang of friends gathered together in the park. With them appeared to be Perry with a weird fedora on. Worried, he had his father leave him there, quietly walking up to Candace when Perry ran off in another direction.

It was only when they were back in the immediate safety of her house did Candace tell him the whole story. Of the Second Dimension, of Perry being a secret agent, of the robots that were threatening to take over the entire world. It had seemed so unbelievable, but hearing the panic in her voice, Jeremy did not hesitate to believe her.

Although he did hesitate in trying to console her at the moment...

"Especially not _my_ platypus!"

Because she was still on somewhat of a tear.

Jeremy turned toward Candace's dresser, where Stacy and Coltrane had parked themselves during the argument. "Guys, you wanna help me out here?"

Both teens looked up from their private conversation and simultaneously shook their heads in dissent.

"Really, guys?"

"Jer," Coltrane said, "You know once she gets on a roll you can't stop her. I thought you would have learned that by now."

"Yeah, she's kind of like a wolverine," Stacy added. "You know, hairy, crazy, retractable claws."

Coltrane looked at her, amused. "Wrong wolverine, Stace,"

"Oh, right."

"In any case, Jer, you might want to pay attention to your girlfriend, who is currently trying to jump out her window."

"What?" Jeremy wheeled around to see Candace's leg halfway out the window. "Candace!" He quickly grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her back into the room. "Are you crazy?"

"If I stay cooped up in here, I'll be even crazier!"

Stacy grimaced in mock pain. "Yeesh, I just shivered a little."

A sudden tapping came from the bedroom door, and the entirety of the room froze, Candace still in Jeremy's bear hug.

"You expecting a raven over, Candy?" Stacy asked.

Ignoring her best friend's comment, Candace slipped through her boyfriend's arms and made her way through the door. Heaving it open, she found-

A toy helicopter, suspending in the air at eye level. A small walkie-talkie was taped to the underside of it.

Candace raised an eyebrow at the confusing sight. "Ummm...what is this?"

"_We gave this to you when you broke your leg, remember?"_

"GAH!" Stacy jumped, expertly landing in Coltrane's arms. "It talks!"

"I think the _walkie_ is talking, Stacy," Coltrane amended.

_"Yes, the walkie _is_ talking. Ferb and I need you to come downstairs, Candace. Everyone else too."_

"Phineas," Candace said, "If this is another hair brained idea, I swear-"

_"It's not, Candace...not technically. We need your help with something."_

She let out a small growl, her frustration clearly showing. "Fine. Come on guys. Let's see what sort of fabulous thing my brothers are going to do today." With that, she left, following the toy chopper down the hallway, her friends falling in stride behind her.

"You know, I would normally leap at the chance to ask where Perry is, but I don't think this would be the appropriate moment," Coltrane admitted.

"Yeah, you think?"

"Sorry, Stacy! I just haven't done it yet!"

Jeremy raised his hand in the air. "I haven't done it yet either."

"Wait, I thought you did it when they were-"

His accusation was cut off by a sudden tug on his ear, rattling him from his thoughts. Seeing that Jeremy had been given the same treatment, he saw that Stacy was the person presently holding his ear.

"Would you two _shut up_?" she savagely whispered. "Can't you see Candace is fragile enough as it is? Bringing up Perry is not going to make it better." She let go of their ears, relieving them from her grasp.

"Sorry, Stacy," Jeremy apologized, rubbing the side of his head. He turned to Coltrane, whose face matched his in agony. "Geez, speaking of not paying attention to your girlfriend..."

"Quiet, you."

They arrived together downstairs, where Candace was busy staring at a giant hole in the wall right over the couch.

"Umm, isn't the frame supposed to be there?" she asked the chopper.

"_Yeah, but Ferb and I found this passageway a little while ago."_ Phineas sounded a bit agitated over the static. _"Candace, we don't have time to explain everything now. Just come down here."_

"Come down where?"

"_Here."_

"I think he means the hole, Candace," Stacy explained.

"I know he means the hole!" The red-haired teen was quickly losing her patience again. "There is a safe place to land, right?"

"_Yeah, there is."_ Phineas sounded distracted, which did not make his sister feel any better.

She peered down the hole, looking for any sort of handhold or ladder. "Phineas, do I have to just jump _dowwww_-" The suction from the passageway had picked up Candace and send her tumbling down into the tunnel.

Coltrane stood still, not totally realizing what just happened. "Man, is it always like this over here?"

"Pretty much," Stacy answered. "Although it usually involves more busting and less sucking."

"Less sucking? What-"

Coltrane never got around to finishing his comment, for Stacy had kicked him into the hole, sending him down after Candace. She looked back at Jeremy, who raised his hands in defiance.

"I can go down myself, thank you very much." With that, he fell into the hole after Coltrane, with Stacy right behind.

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><p>The first thing that Candace noticed after careening down the skinny tube was that she ended up in a large cavern, with machinery and tech everywhere. The second thing she noticed was her boyfriend landing on top of her.<p>

"Hey, Candace," he said, waving at her. "Good thing you were here, right?"

"Yeah. Super."

The third thing was Stacy landing on the both of them.

"Ahh! Gosh darn it, Stacy! A little warning?"

Stacy rolled her eyes, her hair unsettled from the trip. "Yeah, I'll do that next time I plummet down a tube into someone's basement."

The fourth thing was Coltrane landing…a few feet away, on another chair.

"Wait," Coltrane uttered, shaking his head to get the cobwebs out, "Didn't I go second? And why am I over here…?"

"That's not the point!" Candace yelled as she dusted herself off. "The question is where the heck are we?"

"You're with us now."

"Gah!" She turned suddenly at the noise to find her brother hooking up what seemed to be a remote control to a chariot.

A very…familiar chariot.

"Phineas!" Candace yelled. "Did you built those chariots again?"

"No, actually, we didn't. Sort of."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

It was only then did she see where she had exactly ended up. All of the tech and gadgetry she had glimpsed before had the same exact color scheme: bluish- green and yellow. It had the exact same scheme as-

"Perry."

"Yeah, that's right," Phineas said. "This is his headquarters, apparently. He had some sort of replication thing that duplicated all of the inventions and things we did over the summer. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Wait a minute." Coltrane was still over at Perry's main control panel, marveling at everything that was going on. "You guys did all of _this_?"

A crash came off from their right, and Isabella's head popped out from a pile of metal. "Not the lair, but all of the stuff that's in front of you Phineas and Ferb originally did."

"Yeah, and now Dinnah Bell's got us to help him hook up these thingamajigs!" Buford shouted from atop of a monster truck.

"Buford," Baljeet said from the inside of the car, "they are remotes. They are not 'thingamajigs'."

"They're whateva' I wanna call them, Nerd!"

"Hold up," Candace exclaimed. "What are you guys doing, exactly?"

Phineas looked up from his wiring, looking his sister square in the eye. "Well, we're going to send out our stuff to people who want to...help us."

"Help you with what?" she said slowly.

"...With the robot invasion. We're going to fight them."

There were a few moments that passed where the only sounds heard were the buzzing of a blowtorch or the clinks of a wrench fastening a bolt.

And then Candace responded calmly...

"PHINEAS JEREMIAH FLYNN! ARE YOU CRAZY?"

OK, perhaps not so calmly.

"Did we not go through the same things today? Did we not almost get fried by a bunch of robots? Did we not almost get eaten by a giant, hairy...thing? Did we not go through about a gazillion other dimensions to get back to this one? And you want to go back _out there_?"

"Candace..."

"This had got to be one of the worst ideas that you've come up with, Phineas! I'm not going to let you do this!"

"Candace."

"I am responsible for you guys, since Mom and Dad are not here! So you guys have to listen to me!"

"Candace!"

"_What?_" She turned on the spot to see Jeremy had grabbed her arm, a pleading look on his face.

"Can we talk for a second?"

"No, I'm kind of busy at the-"

"_Now._"

Candace had not seen such a serious look on Jeremy's face before. He took this momentary surprise to pull her away from the boys, who were shortly joined by the rest of their group. After walking away a little, he turned back toward her, and she fully expected some sort of calming speech about not yelling at her siblings.

"Candace, I thought you wanted to do something about it! You should be helping them!"

Or...that.

"I _do_...want to do something! Not this, though! I'm not going to help them with this crazy scheme of theirs!" Candace shouted, waving her hands in the air. "You realize how much they could get hurt?"

"Don't you think they know that, Candace? They probably wouldn't be doing this if they didn't. Don't you know your own brothers?"

Despite the logic behind his argument, she was not having any of it. "They're just kids, Jeremy! What can they do?"

Jeremy stared at her incredulously. "Candace...what _can't_ they do? Do you _see_ what they've done?" He gestured toward the lines of inventions currently being set up by the kids. "They've built all this! And this is just from the summer! They're getting ready to use this stuff to do something that people are scared to even think about!"

She folded her arms, turning away from him. "Well, I'm _not_ helping them."

"Well, I _am_," Jeremy said, glancing back at Phineas, who was busy dispatching orders to the rest of the group. "They're going to need all the help they can get. If you don't want to help out, that's fine. But I would think that their own _sister_ would be more supportive."

He walked off, heading to Stacy and Coltrane to put more controllers on the inventions, leaving Candace to her thoughts.

It certainly wasn't her fault that she was just looking out for her brothers, right? What they were doing was dangerous stuff. It was ludicrous compared to the inventions they built every day.

The ones that currently resided inside the base.

Oh.

It was still dumb. They couldn't be going forward with this whole plan, right?

She looked at the main control panels, seeing Baljeet and Phineas going over some plans on a blueprint, their faces wrinkled with concentration.

Right?

She looked off to the right, seeing Isabella and Coltrane put the finishing touches on the wiring of the lemonade machine.

Right?

She glanced further to the right, to see Stacy, Buford, and Jeremy going down the line of mechanical bulls, flicking their power switches to on.

…Right?

And that's when it hit her.

They _all_ knew.

Of course this wasn't something that they were going to dive into without any sort of plan. As annoying as her brothers were, they were two of the most meticulous planners she had ever known. They had probably looked inside and out for any sort of problem and corrected it if they had found any. They knew the risks that they were taking. They knew every time they built a crazy contraption.

This understandably didn't make her feel any better. They were just kids. _Kids_. Normal kids would be outside playing in the backyard, or going out to the movies, not preparing to go fight robots that could hurt them. It was insane.

And then the second wave of realization smacked her.

This weren't normal. _They_ weren't normal. Normal was thrown out the window when her brother was born. Normal was thrown out when Ferb had walked into her life all those years ago. Normal was certainly not where she was standing right now. She couldn't remember the last time she had a normal day.

But finding normalcy didn't matter now. Her family and friends were preparing to start something that, personally, terrified her. The very least she could do, she thought, was be slightly more supportive. Or perhaps a little less ridiculous.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she failed to notice the work had stopped. Everyone was now huddled at the main screen, talking amongst themselves. Candace walked forward toward them, just as Phineas was finishing his apparent explanation.

"…And then we'll do the three messages, and hopefully everyone will come out and help us."

"Why are you guys not sending out one big message?" Stacy asked.

Baljeet rotated in his chair, facing the rest of the group. "We have already exhausted a lot of the power building the remote controls. That, plus the portal that's constantly draining power from the city, makes for strain on whatever we have left. One Tri-State Area-wide message might cut off the power entirely. It is more optimal for us to do shorter bursts of talk over a few of the inventions rather than all of them at once."

"We just need someone to do the message for the older people," Phineas said. "They probably won't listen to me."

"I'll do it," Jeremy replied. "I'm sure everyone will-"

"No. _I'll_ do it."

Everyone turned to Candace, who had suddenly stepped forward, disbelief on their faces.

"Are you sure? I thought you said this was a bad idea?"

"Oh, I did," she scoffed, waving them off. "And trust me, I still do." She looked around at all of the faces surrounding her. "But it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to change anyone's mind."

"Candace..." Jeremy laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"I'm...fine," she replied, answering her boyfriend's silent question. She stared at Phineas, hoping her face wasn't showing any sign of her uneasiness. "Just tell me what to do."

"Well, we'll send out the inventions that are going to go to the teens right now. Once they get to their spots, you'll talk to them. Then Isabella's going to speak to her troop and the rest of the Fireside Girls, then I'll say my piece to the rest of the kids."

He pressed the red button on his panel, and a few of the inventions behind them began to rise up toward the ceiling, heading toward their respected holes to be deposited above ground. "They'll be able to head to wherever the people currently are right now. It should only take a few moments to for them to get where they need to go."

Phineas glanced at her sister, who was now occupying the seat next to him. "You ready?"

Candace grimaced slightly. "Ready as I'll ever be. I'm just not sure what to say."

"That is why we have prepared a brief statement in case you want to use it," Baljeet declared, handing her a small piece of paper. Candace quickly glimpsed over it.

"I don't even know what that word means, Baljeet."

"If ya wanna learn it, it better be quick; look!"

The group looked up to the main view screen at Buford's statement; the red dots that were once steadily moving across the digital map had stopped, confirming they had reached their respected destinations.

It was now or never. Phineas peeked out of the corner of his eye at his sister, whose look of anxiety surely matched his. They caught each other's gaze, and slightly nodded to each other.

"All right, Candace, here we go." He pressed a button on the main control panel, and a microphone slid up out of the desk, stopping right in front of Candace's mouth.

"Whenever you're ready."

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE:<strong> This does take place after the boys find the inventions in Perry's base. This does _not_, however, take any deleted scenes into account. Just saying.

As a warning, this is going to be a somewhat more serious tone than the shown parts of AtSD. Yes, everyone knows what they're getting into, but it's a daunting task. How Phineas, Ferb, Candace, and everyone else are going to take it will be shown throughout this story. And what Candace exactly says to "inspire" the teens of the Tri-State Area will be disclosed next chapter. Don't know when it will be going up, because I might be losing my Internet for a week, but we'll see.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	2. Heeding the Call: The Teens

_**DISCLAIMER: **There's totally not a robot invasion coming. Oh, and I don't own anything._

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2 - Heeding the Call: The Teens<strong>_

"Are you sure you've hooked up all of the cables correctly?"

"Yes."

"And it's still not connecting?"

"Nope."

Jenny let out an aggravated growl. It was just her luck that today was the day her parents were out of town, leaving her alone in the house, when the Internet connection happened to go kaput. She wasn't versed in this sort of technology, so despite her inhibitions, she called someone that Candace had recommended to her before to fix her problem.

"He's a nerd; he knows this kind of stuff!" Candace had said to her. "Don't call those lame support people! They'll make you listen to hippie tunes for 30 minutes then not help you at all!"

Ignoring that fact that she _listened_ to that psychedelic music Candace referred to as "hippie tunes", she had decided to take her up on that advice.

Even if she was beginning to regret it now.

Albert crawled out from underneath her desk, wiping his glasses. "All the cables are in the correct ports. There should be no reason for your connection to be kaput."

Jenny frowned, trying to think of what the problem could be. "Maybe it could be the antennae."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You have an antennae? That's a little old school, don't you think?"

"Hey, it gets the job done," Jenny shot back, leading him to the back door. "And if you haven't noticed (as she waved her arm around at the décor of her house), we're all old school here."

"I'll have to take that into consideration next time you-WHOA!"

She looked in the backyard to see what had startled Albert and was mystified. The large grid antenna that usually sat on top of the house was now parked on top of the shed, its mast snapped in two.

"Of course _this_ is going to be the problem!" Albert surmised, shaking his head. "You didn't notice your antennae crashing to the ground? What have you been doing all day?"

"Well," Jenny thought, putting a finger to her chin, "First I watered my flowers, then I meditated for an hour, then I gave Teresa a bath, and then I meditated for another hour, and then-"

"OK, OK!" the blonde teen said. "I get it! You didn't notice. Yeesh." He started toward the remnants of the shed, Jenny following closely behind. "At the very least, you should get it off your shed." He bent down to grip the dish, but before he could so much as muster up any strength to lift it, a slight grinding noise was heard from underneath the wreckage.

"Jenny, did you have anything living in your shed?" Albert queried.

"No. Why?"

"...Because it sounds like something was. Or _is_."

Before Jenny could respond, the wreckage flew out in all directions. Something at the bottom of the pile was now coming to the top, and unlike Albert, it had no problem lifting any of the pieces near its body.

Including Albert himself.

"Ahhh!" He slammed into the ground and skidded to a halt at Jenny's feet, who was busy staring at what had erupted from the rubble.

A bulky black and grey robot was hovering where the shed and antennae had laid. Its head was shaped like a bucket, with a red visor where its eyes would have been. It had somehow gotten pinned under the antennae when it was knocked over and only just recently reactivated. Ignoring the teens, it began to dust the remaining debris off of its body.

**Silly humans and their low-lying architecture,** it monotoned. **When the Great Emperor Doofenshmirtz takes over this dimension, he will be sure to outlaw anything that will cause difficulties in our routes.**

It abruptly noticed Jenny and Albert staring at him, and brought its arms up at the ready. **Humans, where are your Dooferalls? They are required for all denizens of the Emperor. You there!** He pointed at Jenny, now wielding a tape measure. **You look to be a size 32.**

She looked down at her yellow sweater and vibrant skirt, then glared at the robot angrily. "But I like my clothes!"

**Irrelevant. The decade of the 1960's contacted us; they wish to have their articles of clothing returned to their possession.**

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, milady!" Albert shouted, rapidly stepping in front of Jenny. "I will save you from this robot!"

"I am _not_ your lady," Jenny emphasized. "And I don't think that...thing is going to care at all!"

"Maybe it will when I take it down with my Super-secret-special-awesome-military-training-Taijutsu-karate-chop of Doom!" Albert ran full out at the mech, yelling a at the top of his lungs. He brought down his hand on the robot's chest...

THUNK!

And promptly withdrew it, now yelling in pain.

"Oh thanks. My _hero_," Jenny said, shaking her head.

"Your sarcasm is not lost on me," Albert shot back as he nursed his hand.

**Hostile action has been taken. Prepare to be eliminated.** The robot picked up the antennae with little effort and threw it in the direction of the teens, who dived in opposite directions to avoid it. Seeing that no damage had been done, it turned to Albert, who saw himself trapped in the corner of the yard.

**Your silly attack had no affect on me, Human. Allow me to show you a proper attempt at permanent damage.** It brought its fist back, prepared to slam it into the teen. Panicked, Albert brought his hands up to his face to protect him from the inevitable robot attack.

SLAM!

That certainly wasn't the sound he expected to hear from the robot. He was expecting more of a "Thwack!" noise.

He peeked through his fingers to see the robot was now missing its head, wires exposed and sparking through the new opening. With a final sizzle, the robot dropped to the ground. Behind it was Jenny, brandishing a shovel and a angry expression on her face.

"_That's_ for being an abomination to Mother Nature, you man-made heathen!"

Albert got off the ground, finding himself mesmerized by Jenny's sudden demeanor change. "Man, that was totally great, girl. You know," he added, walking up to her, "If you're not busy tonight, maybe we could-"

He was interrupted by the metal part of the spade screeching to a stop an inch away from his nose, its owner not pleased with him.

"Keep in mind who still has the shovel here, Albert."

He grinned mischievously, realizing that he had been bested. "Point taken."

She brought the shovel back and leaned on it, eyes not leaving his face. "I was warned about you. You know that, right?"

"By who?"

"Candace. And Stacy. And about half of my friends who you made a pass on."

"...Geez, word sure goes quickly around here, doesn't it?"

"You could say that, yeah," Jenny affirmed.

There was a long minute of silence where nothing was heard but the sparking of the wires from the robot. A very long, very awkward minute.

"So," Albert interjected, hastily changing the subject, "This robot. I wonder where it came from." He bent over the automaton and carefully studied the inner wiring. "It doesn't look like it's anything from around here. Heck, I would go as far to say it's not anything from-"

"It probably came from that."

Albert pulled his head out of the robot to follow Jenny's finger, and saw what neither of them had noticed before: a green portal over the tallest building in the city, with a massive amount of robots like the one they fought pouring out of it.

"Oh dear." Albert could hear the panic rising in Jenny's voice. "I hope everyone is all right."

He pulled out his cell and quickly dialed his house, but got nothing but a dial tone in response. "That's odd, I can't call anyone."

She got her own phone out, but like Albert's, it was not working as well. "I just used this to call you earlier. I wonder why it's not working now?"

**That is because all communications have been blocked.**

"Ahhh!" The two teens spun around to see four more of the black and grey robots behind them, seemingly appearing from nowhere.

**Humans, where are your Dooferalls? Great Commander Doofenshmirtz demands all humans wear Dooferalls to signify his gloriousness.**

"Yeah, we already heard that before! And we still don't know what you're talking about, you giant hunk of metal!" Albert yelled.

**Incorrect response. Be sure to answer correctly next time, Human, or you will have Doofmuffs and Dooffins to compensate for your lack of Dooferalls. They are much more visually unappetizing.**

Jenny stepped out from behind Albert, returning to her angry mood. "Oh yeah? Well, compensate _this!_" She swung the shovel at the lead robot-

Only for a neighboring bot to grab it out of the air, stopping it in its tracks. With one quick grasp, the mech snapped it in two, leaving Jenny with only the wooden handle.

**This action is also not compatible with the question, female Human,** the original robot monotoned. **Prepare to be eliminated.**

Albert and Jenny stepped back slightly but found themselves running into the bodies of two more robots, who now had them completely surrounded. Seeing no other alternative, he turned toward the brown-haired girl.

"So...are you good enough with that thing to stop six robots?"

"No," Jenny replied, wielding the remnants of her shovel like a sword and turning it over in her hands, "Not really."

"Just checking," Albert said, taking up his fighting stance again. "I'll just beat these guys back with my patented karate-"

"Albert, you just tried that approximately three minutes ago and it didn't work."

"That's because there was only one of them. These moves are aimed more toward multiple opponents."

"Uh...huh. Right." As the robots began to hover closer, the two stood back to back, ready to act.

"...Sorry I wasn't able to fix your Internet."

Jenny scoffed at his comment, turning her head around to look at him. "Albert, I think that's the least of our concerns right now."

"I'm still sorry, OK? I feel like I have to apologize before I get shot up by a bunch of robots."

She turned back toward the lead robot, smiling slightly. "Apology accepted."

"Thank you."

The robots began to charge their arm cannons, and the two saw that there was no time left for chit-chat.

"On the count of three, OK?" Albert said.

Jenny nodded. "OK."

"One."

The glow from the cannons became brighter.

"Two."

The energy was beginning to overflow the barrel, ready to fire.

"Thr-"

WHAM!

A giant mass landed on two of the robots, resulting in a large explosion. Through the smoke, Jenny couldn't make out what exactly had come down on them, but she didn't have time to wonder; Albert had grabbed her arm and dove to the side, momentarily confusing the remaining robots.

**Halt, humans,** one of the robots monotoned. **It is hard to eliminate you when you are-**

A second mass came out of nowhere, careening into the quartet and dismembering them into tiny bits. More smoke began to billow out, blurring the teens' vision. Albert coughed loudly, trying to reorient himself.

"You alright, Jenny?" he asked, standing up and offering his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she affirmed, letting him get her back on her feet. She began to wipe the dust off of her shirt, but as the smoke cleared, she saw exactly what had destroyed the robots, and froze.

The area that the robots had been previously occupying were now replaced by two large and very strange vehicles: a giant monster truck with painted flames on the side, and a silver motorcycle with two side cars attached to it. The bike, for unknown reasons to Jenny and Albert, had a fish-motif to it.

"...Did you make those appear?" Jenny asked, glancing at Albert. She immediately regret asking this question, because his face appeared just as perplexed as Jenny's was.

"I didn't. You?"

"No."

They stared at the two contraptions in front of them, not sure of what to do. Calmly, Jenny dropped the rest of her shovel and dusted her clothes off. "In any case, they got rid of those filthy metal barbarians for us, so we should be thankful for that."

"And you're sure these things aren't going to do the same thing?" Albert said.

"No, they're fine," she replied, placing a hand on one of the truck wheels. "I feel a sort of...tranquil energy from them. Nothing like those stupid robots. It feels like they're here to help."

Albert opened his mouth again, presumably to make fun of her aura-sensing, when suddenly a female voice began to emanate out of the vehicles, booming loud enough for the two teens to hear quite clearly.

"_Teenagers of the Tri-State Area..._"

The voice was immediately recognized by both Jenny and Albert.

"Isn't that...Candace?" Albert inquired. "Why is she talking through these...things?"

Jenny shook her head wordlessly, just as curious as he was.

"_My name is "insert name here"..._"

A new, younger voice broadcast over the frequency. "_Candace, you're suppose to put _your_ name there._"

"_I know! Don't rush me!_"

Jenny couldn't help but giggle as she could imagine Candace fighting with her little brother, despite the gravity of the situation. She continued on, having settled whatever argument had taken place.

"_My name is Candace Flynn. I live on 2308 Maple Drive with my parents and my brothers, Phineas and Ferb. And we are in need of your help._"

This was unexpected. Not as unexpected as a monster truck and a motorcycle driving up out of nowhere to crush some robots, but unexpected nonetheless. Jenny glanced at Albert again, wondering what exactly he was thinking.

"_As you can see, there is a massive robot invasion all across the Tri-State Area, being led by an evil man from another dimension. He is taking those robots and enslaving the good people of this city, and it will only be a matter of time before the entire populace is overtaken._

"_I come to you not as a fellow human, or even a citizen of this great nation, but as a friend. By coming together, we can force these creations to ex...ex...Baljeet, I _still_ don't know that word!"_

Now Baljeet's heavily accented voice was heard over the radio. "_It is 'exfiltrate', Candace. It is the opposite of 'infiltrate'._ _Do they teach you nothing in high school?_"

"_Oh, for crying out loud!_" Jenny heard the distinct sound of paper being crumpled followed by an "_Ow!_" as it was undoubtedly thrown at Baljeet.

"_Listen, guys,_" Candace said, her tone getting more alarmed by the second, "_I'm not that good at this sort of thing, so I'm going to just say it: My brothers, as annoying as they are, have sent out some of their doohickeys and whatchamacallits out to people, and if you want to help us kick some butt, you can come out using their stuff._

"_Inside each of the things is a remote control for driving purposes, if you're not old enough to. If you are, you can switch to manual control by pressing the yellow button on the remote. All of the people who wish to come out can press the green button on the remote to prove that you're going to be there. _"

There was a slight pause, then Jenny could hear something akin to desperation in her voice. "_Look...this is going to be really dangerous. I can't say I would blame you if you didn't come. But...we're not going to just sit here and do nothing. We _can't_ sit here and do nothing. Not when people are probably being rounded up as we speak._"

Another pause, and she had to strain to hear Candace, as her voice was now nothing more than a strained whisper. "_If you do come, we're meeting up in the center of the city. There are coordinates programmed into the remotes in case you need them. Head there with whatever contraption was sent to you. If you don't...well, we'll know why._

"_But...it would be appreciated if you did come. The more help we get the better. And the better chance we won't go down fighting. So...come out if you can."_

There was a long delay, and the two teens thought that the message had concluded. One last word, however, came over the radio.

"_...Please."_

With a final squawk, the message cut off, leaving nothing but empty static.

Both Jenny and Albert stood still, completely shocked at what was said. Neither of them had wanted to believe a word of what was going on. The robots, the portal, the inventions...it was almost too astounding to comprehend.

Jenny looked at the monster truck.

Then at the portal across the city.

Then back at the truck.

And steeled herself.

She had made up her mind.

She began to walk toward the ladder of the truck when she was grabbed by Albert, who had just slipped out of his trance.

"Jenny, are you nuts!" Albert shouted, pointing at the truck. "You're really going to get in that thing and go?"

"Yes," she affirmed, wrenching her arm out of his grasp, "Yes, I am. I'm going to help my _friend_." She started up the ladder, Albert gazing up at her questioningly.

"You do realize this is crazy, right? I mean, a giant motor vehicle isn't exactly the best thing to have when going to fight robots."

"They got rid of _these _robots, didn't they?"

Albert paused, clearly not thinking his argument through enough. "Well, yes, but it's still crazy."

"I would agree with you there," Jenny opened the door and slid into the driver's seat, disengaging the remote control from the dashboard. "But even a down-to-earth girl like me needs a little something different from the norm. And Candace is one of my best friends." She pushed the yellow button, causing the instrument panel to light up, followed by the green button. "If there's any way I can help her, I'll do it."

Albert deftly stepped back from the truck, crossing his arms. "You and your friends are weird."

"At least I _have_ friends, Albert."

"Ouch. Burn."

Jenny glanced over the dash to see the motorcycle still unoccupied. As much as she didn't like Albert at the moment, she didn't just want to leave him there. There were two inventions, after all. Candace's brothers wouldn't have sent it out if...

Hold on a second.

Jenny grinned, knowing exactly what she need to say.

"Hey, Albert," she shouted down to him, "they _did_ send an invention out to you to use."

He turned away, still not impressed. "Yeah, so?"

"Well, they must think you're at least capable of fighting back, right?"

"...That's true."

"And I'm sure Candace put in a good word for you to her brothers, since you _did_ help her out earlier this summer."

Albert 's head turned slightly, and Jenny could almost see the gears turning in his mind. "That is also true."

"And if you came with me and helped her out, I'm sure she would be _ever so grateful_ to you." She ducked down, not wanting to show him her evil grin. "Not to mention you would be a hero. All the girls would _love_ you for that."

Albert turned his head to face Jenny. "...Even that other friend of yours? Stacy?"

"Mayyyybe," Jenny said, twirling a finger in her hair. "She usually doesn't go for nerds, but if she saw you in all of your glory, I'm sure she could change her mind." She knew that Candace and Stacy were already in relationships, but Albert certainly didn't need to know _that_. Not for the purposes of this event, anyway.

He whirled around, pointing a finger in the air. "All right, you've convinced me! Let's go save the Tri-State Area!"

* * *

><p>A few minutes later (and after a quick stop at Albert's house), they were speeding off toward the center of the city, Jenny occupying the truck and Albert inside the motorcycle. Albert already had his license, so like Jenny, he was in full control of his vehicle. They had also found that there were radio links between the two inventions, so that they could talk to each other even while driving.<p>

"What was your brother doing on his computer?" Jenny asked through her radio. She had noticed Albert's younger sibling in his room when they had passed the open door, rapidly typing away on his desktop.

"Who knows?" he replied. "He's probably just chatting away with his loser friends about Candace's brothers."

"Didn't that robot say all communications were blocked, though? So who would he be talking to?"

"Irving has some sort of weird connection that can circumnavigate the regular Internet grid," Albert told her, shrugging his shoulders. "Candace's brothers built it for him some time ago. He was so excited that he practically jumped out of his skin."

Jenny nodded, not wanting to pursue the issue. A moment later, however, Albert spoke up again.

"You know, technically you're suppose to have an adult in the vehicle with you when you're driving, Jenny. You do just have your learner's, right?"

She rolled her eyes, tapping her receiver to get rid of some of the static. "Yes, but technically people aren't suppose to wear dragon costumes when they're driving either."

"Hey! It's from _Stumbleberry Finkbat_! It represents strength and heroism," Albert retorted as he adjusted the hood of his costume over his head. "I'm sure Candace and Stacy will _love_ it."

"Yeah, they'll feel _something,_ all right." Jenny would have thrown in another sly insult, but she needed to focus; they were approaching the edge of the inner city, where they could clearly see a large quantity of robots weaving through the tall buildings.

"Hang on, Candace!" Jenny shouted, shifting her truck into gear. "We're on our way!"

* * *

><p><strong>EDIT:<strong> _Slightly modified so that it doesn't look like I'm, apparently, taking potshots at anyone else's pairings._**  
><strong>

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Jenny, you are evil. And manipulative. That is all.

Like I mentioned on my profile page, this chapter was a pain in the _tookis_. It was hard trying to get just the right reasoning behind why Jenny and Albert would be at the same place for story purposes. That, and I have little experience in writing Jenny (besides **A Surprise in Store**) and no experience writing Albert. Thus, it took longer than I thought to get this chapter out.

There are two more groups of people to visit before we report back to Phineas and company. I will leave the guessing up to you, but if you look at my other stories and see who I write about, you'll already have a good indication of who it's going to be.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	3. Heeding the Call: The Troops

My sincerest apologies for not getting this out when I said I would. Life just sometimes gets in the way. I promise I will try to not take such a long break during a story in the future.

_**DISCLAIMER: **All characters/robots/buildings are owned by DP, JM, and DC._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 3 - Heeding the Call: The Troops<strong>_

As Jenny and Albert were handling their robot situation, a small group of girls were huddled in their clubhouse in the woods, fully stocked on water balloons and anything that would help defend against the patrolling robots outside. They stood at the windows and doors, ready to attack anything that came through.

"Was anyone able to contact Ginger?" Gretchen asked, peering through the blinds for what seemed to be the millionth time.

"I couldn't," Holly answered, "But she knows to come here in case of an emergency like this."

"Does she know to come through the secret tunnel?"

"Yeah, she does," the black girl replied. "At least...I think she does."

Gretchen almost facepalmed at her statement, had she not realized that a water balloon was in her hand. Thinking better of it, she turned toward the remaining trio. "Did any of you talk to Isabella?"

"I talked to her this morning," Adyson said as Katie and Milly shook their heads. "She said she was going to spend the day with Phineas. That's the last I heard from her."

"This isn't good." Gretchen resisted the urge to look outside again. "Chief always knows the emergency protocol. I wonder if something happened?"

"Of course something happened!" Katie yelled. "Do you not see the giant robots outside?"

Milly put a finger to her mouth. "Katie, shh! They're gonna hear you!"

They sat in silence for a minute, trying to gauge the opposition's placement. All of a sudden, there was a rampart knock...

Coming from beneath the floor.

"Ahh!" Katie magnificently jumped on Adyson's head in surprise. "What was that?"

Adyson giggled. "The beating of a tell-tale heart..."

"Enough, Adyson," Gretchen said, walking over to the center of the room. She kicked a soft spot on the floorboard, revealing a tunnel entrance and one very tired Asian girl.

"Ginger! Are you all right?" Milly asked, helping her up.

"I'm fine," she replied as Gretchen replaced the boards. "It's crazy out there; there's some random portal over the city spewing out robots left and right. I could barely get through the park without being seen."

"But you weren't followed, right?"

"Pretty sure. They seemed more focused on getting everyone in weird clothing for some odd reason than to notice me."

"That's good," Adyson said. "Now we just need to find out where Isabella is at."

"Wait, Chief's not here yet?"

"No. Have you heard from her or Phineas at all?"

Ginger shook her head. "I tried calling Stacy to see if she knew, but she was acting weird; she said something about 'praying to the Mysterious Force'. I don't even know what that was about.

"Anyway, we got cut off because of all of the weird interference. I can't call anyone at all."

"Yeah, none of us can either," Milly affirmed, shaking her cell for emphasis.

Gretchen, who had been quiet during this exchange, set her balloon down. "Girls, I think I may need to institute a Code Alpha Epsilon Xeta here."

"What!" Adyson was beside herself. "Why on Earth do you need to do that?"

"Adyson, I feel as second-in-command that I need to be thinking about the troop's well-being."

"It still requires a vote, though! And we don't have everyone here!"

In the meantime, the quartet of remaining girls watched as the two bickered on. Confused, Ginger glanced at the other 3. "Do any of you know what a Code Alpha Epsilon Xeta is?"

Katie, Milly, and Holly all shrugged in unison.

"Yeah...I don't either."

**Attention, humans.**

The troop froze, recognizing too late that their noise must have alerted the robots around their house. Gretchen silently motioned to the rest of the girls to arm themselves, and they began to creep back to their defense positions.

**The Great Emperor Doofenshmirtz demands that all humans be designated Dooferalls for brainwashing purposes. Please proceed to exit the residence or else we will be forced to come in.**

Milly tip-toed over to the front door, waving off Gretchen's quiet attempt to dissuade her, and she spoke out in the sweetest, most angelic voice possible.

"We already have our...clothing. You guys came yesterday, remember?"

Gretchen dared to look out the window again, and she saw one of the large black and grey robots looking at another one, who appeared to have a clipboard with him. They "nodded" at each other, and then the lead robot turned back toward the house.

**Our apologies, human. Be sure to attend the commencement of the Great Emperor at eight P.M. sharp later this evening. Have a nice day.**

"You too!" Milly squeaked.

The humming of the robots slowly tapered off until they could hear it no more.

"Milly, that was fantastic!" Adyson exclaimed, hugging the girl. "Now we don't have to worry about them anymore."

"Not _anymore_," Gretchen corrected. "We should probably vacate the clubhouse and regroup somewhere else. Try to contact-"

**Humans.**

The bespectacled girl stopped, hearing the monotonous voice come up to the house again. "We're going through the tunnel," she whispered. "Milly, stall them as much as you can."

Milly gave a quiet thumbs-up as the girls began to climb down the hole. She turned toward the door, adorning her sweet voice for the second time. "Yes, Mr. Robot?"

**I have been told that this sector has not been properly outfitted with Dooferalls, despite your previous acknowledgment. Please remove yourself from the residence with your clothes so that we may affirm that you received them.**

"Umm..." Milly looked back at the floor to see Katie frantically waving her to follow. "Sure thing! Just a second." Quickly, she jumped into the hole, her best friend sealing the floor behind her.

* * *

><p>It was a few minutes before the troop was able to breathe fresh air again. The tunnel came out in a wooded section of the park, not far from their clubhouse. Gretchen poked her head out of the tree, saw no one nearby, and then jumped out, landing softly on the ground. "All right, girls, looks like the coast is clear."<p>

The rest of the troop exited the tree (Adyson in her usual clumsy way) and dusted themselves off. "All right, now where do we go?" Holly asked.

"We need to get to somewhere they've gone already," Gretchen surmised. "My house is the closest; we should probably just head there and-"

**Humans.**

The girls whirled around to see about six robots plowing through the woods in their direction, arms outstretched.

"What in the world?" Adyson yelled. "How did they know we were here?"

**One of you seems to have dropped this.**

The troop turned suddenly again to see a singular robot holding something out to them. Peering closer, they could see that it was a round piece of white fabric, with an eye and a heart on it.

"My 'I Just Saw A Cute Boy' patch!" Ginger exclaimed, grabbing the patch from its hands. "I was wondering where that was!"

"Ginger, you have, like, forty of those!" Katie shouted. "Why do you even need that one?"

"Because every one of them is special!" the Asian girl shot back. "I'm going to make a sweater out of all of them."

"Oh my gosh," Holly sighed, slapping her face. "You are impossible, girl."

"Where did you find it?" Ginger absentmindedly asked the robot.

**It was located at the base of the tree.**

"Oh yeah, I remember!" she realized. "I probably dropped it when I was going into...the tunnel..."

A long moment passed, and four loud slaps rang out as the other girls' hands connected with their foreheads.

"Ginger, you doofus," Adyson said.

**Humans, we will ask again: Where are your Dooferalls?**

The girls looked between each other, not sure how to respond. Thankfully, Milly was once again the one to come with a quick response.

"We...uhh...kept them at home. We didn't want to get our clothes dirty for the great Doofenschnozzle."

**Shmirtz.**

"Whatever."

The robot glanced around at the group, appearing to make his mind up about something. **We will escort you to your premises to ensure you have all of your articles. Follow us, and do not attempt to escape.**

* * *

><p>Before they knew it, the troop found themselves approaching the clubhouse, now accompanied by the band of robots. Gretchen was currently at a loss as to what to do.<p>

"Do you even have a plan, Milly?" she whispered to her fellow troop member.

"No, not really."

"Not really!" she said, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. "What do you mean, not really?"

Milly glanced at Gretchen, her smile fading slightly. "I'm kind of making this up as I go along."

Gretchen made a motion to interrogate her further, but they had arrived at their clubhouse, and the robot began speaking again.

**Now we need to see your belongings, humans. To insure quality of the garments, we need to inspect them.**

The entire group looked at Milly, who was trying to concentrate on a solution. Appearing to have one, she turned her attention to the speaking robot.

"We have to go inside to put on our new clothes. You think we're going to get changed out here?"

**We...didn't...**

"Mmhmm," Milly replied, putting on her best disappointed face. "Right. Well, wait out here while we change." She hurriedly ushered the girls into the clubhouse, closing the door behind her. The lead robot started to knock, but Milly popped her head back almost instantly, waving a finger at it. "We need some privacy, silly."

**Apologies.**

Milly quietly closed the door, then turned to the others. "OK, now what, guys? We only have a little bit of time before they realize what's going on."

"I don't know," Katie replied, "You think of something!"

"Hey, I just got us in here. Sooner or later, they're going to realize that we don't have those...whatever things."

"OK, girls, let's think for a second." Gretchen huddled the group together, but before she could utter a word, there was a gigantic crash from outside. Six heads popped up at the sudden noise.

"What the...?" Ginger started.

More sounds accompanied the first one. Buzzing and crunching and, for some reason, a yelping cat were heard from outside.

"OK, seriously, what is going on out there?" Milly shouted, covering her ears with her hands.

After a minute of this, the noises ceased, leaving six very confused girls in its wake. Cautiously, Gretchen, for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day, looked outside the window.

"...Girls, you are not going to believe what I see."

"Are the robots still out there?" Ginger inquired.

"...Technically, yes."

"And not technically?"

"They're in a bazillion pieces."

Adyson cocked an eyebrow at her. "Come again?"

Gretchen waved to the door, and the girls followed her outside, only to be astounded by what was in their sights.

The second-in-command had been right...to a certain extent. What had been several robots were now a strewn pile of debris in every direction. Where the robots had been standing now had a few strange contraptions in its place. The girls immediately recognized some of them from their past adventures with Phineas and Ferb; three of the levitating car wash buffers were hovering slightly off the ground off to their right. There was more stuff, however, that they didn't recognize; two wooden chariots were carrying what seemed to be an ice cream machine, and a jet powered sleight with what appeared to be a animatronic suit at the front seat.

The troop quickly scanned around the area, just to see if their eyes were playing tricks on them. "Er...I guess we should be glad we aren't robot slaves, right?" Katie questioned.

"Yeah," Milly replied, "But now we need to know what the heck these are doing here?"

As if on cue, a voice began to emit from the devices, and Gretchen gasped as she immediately recognized the voice of her best friend and fearless leader.

"_Fellow Fireside Girls and Troops of the Tri-State Area, this is Isabella Garcia-Shapiro from Troop __46231__. This is an urgent message regarding the current hostile situation._"

"Must've been worse than we realized, girls," Katie said quietly.

"_Our city is currently being overrun by a robot invasion from another dimension. You may have come across these things already; it is highly advisable that you do _not_ approach them alone. Or at all, if you can do that."_

Ginger looked at all of the inventions. "Is she going to explain about these thingies?"

_"I bet everyone is wondering about what you exactly have in front of you."_

The Asian girl's face was priceless. "Jiminy, is she psychic or something?"

"Only sometimes," Gretchen smirked.

"_These are your weapons, so to speak, for the coming battle."_

"Say wha?" Adyson said.

"_To all Fireside Girl Troops in the listening area, and on behalf of the leaders of said troops, I am issuing Code Omicron Delta Zeta, effective immediately."_

Gretchen's face formed a look of sheer terror, an action not lost on Holly. "Gret, what's that code for?"

"You'll find out," she replied, her fingers quivering over her mouth. "Chief's gotta explain it to everyone. It's mandatory for any rule or regulation in that part of the manual."

Holly opened her mouth, presumably to ask about what part Gretchen was exactly referring to, but Isabella's voice cut her off.

_"All available Fireside Girls are to report to the middle of the city using whatever means that we have provided you with. You will meet up with the rest of the people that wish to do battle against these robots. They're most certainly not the most obvious weapons that one would think of, but given the circumstances, it's the best we've got._

_"I would not be instituting this rule if I did not know the implications of it. So...I am also putting in an override-Code Charlie Gamma Tango."_

"Oh my gosh!" Holly yelled. "I don't know any of these codes! What in the world is going on?"

"Wait for the message to end, Holly. I'll tell you when it's over." The black-haired girl was surprised to hear not Gretchen tell her that, but Adyson. It was rather uncharacteristic for her to be this serious, but she didn't have time to contemplate the matter, for Isabella was starting off again.

"_If a troop member does not wish to come, she can execute the code and be excused. Do not feel obligated to follow Code Omicron Delta Zeta. I understand that this can be somewhat confusing, but this is going to be dangerous, and I, as a Fireside Girls Troop Leader, will fully understand if you do not._

_"But I will not sit idly by as everything that I stand for is threatened by a crazy guy and his robots. And I hope there are others that feel the same. So, if you come, use the attached remote to pilot your vehicle. The green button will confirm your attendance. The yellow will let you assume direct control. You can still use the remote for driving if need be._

_"I hope to see some of you there, fighting with me. If not...I hope that you stay safe."_

There was a slight pause, and then Isabella said one last thing, with no mistake as to who it was meant for.

"_And for my esteemed deputy...Bravo, Article 10, Section 5, Footnote 11."_

The radio cut off at that comment, leaving the girls to their now very bewildered thoughts.

Isabella's best friend glanced over all of the inventions, muddling over the options and the last words spoken to them. Without a word, she retreated back into the clubhouse as the rest of the troop stared at her in confusion. Holly turned to Adyson, hoping to alleviate her confusion.

"OK, is someone going to explain what is happening _now_?"

"Omicron Delta Zeta is a code that requires the immediate attendance of every Fireside Girl in the organization, Holly," Adyson replied. "To my knowledge, one's never been called before. It must be a pretty bad situation in order for Isabella to put _that_ into effect."

"So that's a pretty serious rule; I get that. But she put a Charlie Gamma Tango after that. Which is..."

"It's basically a rule that lets you get out of any previous rule instituted. It doesn't even require verbal or written consent. Weird how she would put that in there."

Holly circled around the largest piece of remaining robot, lost in thought. "Well, if these are any indication, I'm happy that she put that in there. We wouldn't want anyone who didn't want to risk their butt to do something stupid."

"Agreed," Milly affirmed.

Holly rejoined the group, finger on her chin. "But what is the footnote Chief mentioned at the end? I don't know that one either."

Adyson had her copy of the Fireside Girl Manual open immediately. Turning through the pages, she stopped at what she thought was the appropriate rule. "Hmmm, that can't be right. Why is Isabella referencing tea cozies?"

Katie has her own text out, leafing through the back part of the book. "I'm pretty sure that's not it, Adyson. Although Mongolian History doesn't seem to be an appropriate thing to talk about now either."

Adyson slammed her book shut with a snap, agitated. "Oh my goodness, why would she be talking about any of this stuff?"

"She's not."

She looked up to see the bespectacled girl had returned with an entirely different book in her hands, the cover blazing red as opposed to the usual blue. "What is that?"

"It's the _Fireside Girls Bravo Manual_. Each Bravo version is specifically entrained to all of the individual troops." Gretchen began to flip through the book, trying to find the page Isabella had stipulated. "While the regular manual is perfectly relevant for day-to-day tasks and operations, the Bravo manual takes every single member of the group into accordance."

"...English, please?"

"It's about us, you dope," Holly said, smacking Adyson in the arm.

"How come we've never even heard of it before?" Milly asked Gretchen. "There's no mention of it in the regular manual."

"That's because all references to the Bravo one were removed from it. The founders of the Fireside Girls didn't want this sort of information running around like the proverbial poultry with its think-box detached." Gretchen narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the tiny print. "And Fireside Troop Leaders and second-in-commands are the only people who are privy to its contents."

The bespectacled girl turned one last page as the others looked on. Her brow crinkled with concentration when she read the note. She motioned the rest of the girls over to her.

The troop peered over her shoulder to see where Gretchen was now pointing at. At the end of her finger was the footnote, accompanied by a single, solitary word:

_Fight._

For a moment, no one said anything. Suddenly, Adyson threw her fist in the air in a fit of jubilation.

"Oh, heck yes! We're gonna kick some butt!"

"Adyson, have you gone nuts?" Holly yelled. "We're suppose to use these things to fight?"

"Well, duh. Of course. What else are we going to use? Water balloons?"

Milly stared at her as she sauntered up to one of the chariots. "And you're going to use _that_? Really?"

You think I'm just going to sit here while there's action going on? No way! Now when Chief needs our help." Adyson jumped into the basket, grabbing the remote in the process. "So are you guys going to come, or am I going to have to go by myself?"

The others stared at her for a second, then turned back toward each other, grins breaking on their faces.

"Aw, heck, who am I kidding?" Holly laughed. "I needed something like this to liven up my day. I'm in."

"As am I," Ginger answered.

Milly and Katie shook their heads in affirmation.

"Then I guess we're in agreement," Gretchen said. "We got some robot butt to kick!"

While the other girls went off and deliberated on the invention distribution, Gretchen ran back into the clubhouse. Looking over her shoulder to make sure no one else was watching, she lifted the corner floorboard to reveal the hidden box that the Bravo manual had been in. Pausing, she opened the book back up to the previous section and then, hesitating for a moment, turned an additional page to Footnote 11.

The _**real **_Footnote 11.

In reality, the rule that she had read to them was Footnote 10. She knew that the others wouldn't pay attention to the numbers, especially in a book that was unfamiliar to them.

The truth was that everything in that specific section of the manual was for leaders' eyes _only_; Gretchen knew this by heart. It would have to be a remarkably dire situation for anyone other than a head, even a second-in-command, to look at its contents.

And that time was now.

Gretchen had worked hard to keep her emotions in check when she had glanced at the manual earlier, but staring at the handwritten text again threatened to overflow her prefrontal cortex:

**Footnote 11.1**

_Gretchen,_

_If you are reading this, I am unavailable to lead the troop. A serious situation has been brought forth, and thus requires my full attention. When this message is read in its entirety, you will be made leader of Fireside Girls Troop 46321. In the case of the event in question being temporary, all leadership responsibilities will be transferred back once said situation has been resolved._

Gretchen could tell that Isabella had paused for a while, since the next few sentences were written in much darker blue ink:

_In the case of a permanent one, I know that you will fulfill the duties of Fireside Girls Troop Leader admirably, and with pride. We've been through a lot together, ever since we first met in our Lil' Sparks troop. You have always been a close confidant and a dear friend. I have no doubt that you will be great._

_Sincerely,_

_Isabella Garcia-Shapiro_

At the very end of the text, there was a small add-in, written in red ink:

_P.S. - If it is a permanent transfer...tell Phineas that I love him._

"Stupid Chief," Gretchen whispered, wiping the tears off of her glasses, "You can tell him that yourself once we're done."

"Gretchen!" Holly's yell shook her out of her stasis. "C'mon! We gotta go!"

She hurriedly placed the manual back in the safebox and closed the floor up again. She ran outside to see all of the inventions had been taken sans for the third buffer. Gretchen climbed into it, pushing the green button in the process.

"All right, girls, let's go help out our leader!"

With a quick salute, the girls were off, steadying themselves for the unknown as best they could. Gretchen could only hope that whatever was waiting for them was not as serious as Isabella had let on.

Because she didn't think she could handle it if it was.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE:<strong> I _did_ tell you this would be a more serious take on the movie. Just putting that out there in case anyone asks. Or forgot.

For all of you who had the Fireside Girls in their office pools as the subject of this chapter, two things. One, congrats! Two, why on God's green Earth is your office pool about my fanfiction? :P

One more chapter to go before we make a return to Perry's lair. Place your bets on who it's going to be about. If you're correct...you'll win the satisfaction of being right.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	4. Heeding the Call: The Tykes

_**DISCLAIMER: **All characters of Phineas and Ferb are owned by the owners, not the people who only wish to be them.  
><em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 4 - Heeding the Call: The Tykes<strong>_

He had immediately known that something was wrong.

Then again, it wasn't every day that you came home to see robots in every visible direction.

He had arrived at his house after leaving his father's studio to see a reddening sky along with what appeared to be a green portal in the tallest part of the city. The weird robots were pouring out of it like a waterfall. Knowing not to mess with them, he had ducked into his home in order to avoid them.

Now, as he hunkered down in the living room, closely listening for any more disturbances outside, Django Brown was sure that nothing good was going to come out of this.

He glanced at his phone once again. He had tried to call Milly a number of times once he had gone inside, but there wasn't any service. He hoped that she was OK; this was probably unnecessary since he knew she was spending the day with the troop, and together they were certainly capable of handling anything.

This didn't stop him from worrying, though. He couldn't imagine what he would feel if anything happened to her.

Django heard the humming of a robot over his roof, and he slunk back down into the couch. The sound continued over the home, and appeared to stop just over his backyard. He was sure that whatever was out there hadn't spotted him; he had closed all the windows once he had gotten inside.

THWOMP!

He swore that the couch jumped two feet off of the ground from the thud that came from outside. Then again, everything in the living room was at least a couple of inches away from its proper place, so it must have been something huge.

Cautiously, he got up from his spot and sneaked over to the sliding door. Sliding two of the blinds open, he saw-

What...in the...

A giant metal shark was currently resting in a shark-shaped divot in his backyard. It did not appear to be operational at the moment, although the float that was next to it certainly was. He saw someone struggling to get out of the cockpit, their blonde hair trussed into two makeshift tufts, not unlike Holly. She actually looked quite familiar...

And then she lifted her head up.

And Django immediately recognized her.

She was hollering about something, however he could only really make out the words "awesome" and "landing". Which, he thought to himself as he opened the door, was fitting for a Fireside Girl like Penelope Buchanan.

Penny was a cousin of Milly, the daughter of her fathers' brother, and someone who Django did not have too much experience with. She was nice enough during a couple of Milly's Fireside Girl community outings, but there was a certain...craziness to her that just seemed to rub him in a weird way. She was loud, rambunctious, upfront, and easily excitable.

In other words, everything that Milly wasn't.

The girl had taken somewhat of a liking to him, which was cool and everything. However, for some reason unbeknownst to him, she always called him-

"Hey, Djang!" the blonde girl yelled, taking her helmet off as he strolled up.

He grimaced slightly. "Penny, I thought I told you not to call me that."

"But it's unique! It makes you cool!"

"It also makes you sound like you're ringing a bell."

"Really?" She cocked her head sideways in thought. "I never thought about it that way. DJANG DJANG DJANG-"

"Penny, what are you doing here?" Django shouted, cutting her off. "And what in the world is that?"

"Oh yeah, this sucker here!" She smacked the side of the metal shark. "This was sent to us by some random chick! Heard her on the radio inside! Isabella someone..."

"Isabella? Like Milly's troop leader, Isabella?"

"Yeah, I guess so. She mentioned something about robots and controls and stuff like that, and my troop went out to help her with this robot fighting."

"And you decided to land this thing in my yard...why?" Django asked.

"Because, silly," Penny replied, waving her hand at him, "Not even the great Penelope Buchanan can be in two places at once. I don't think your friends Francis and Frank-"

"Phineas and Ferb."

"Yeah, them too. I don't think even they have invented that yet. Anyway, I need someone to man the shark thingy while I fly the chopper. You in?"

"So...wha...wait a minute," Django stammered out. "You just want me to go with you all willy-nilly and go fight against a bunch of stuff that could hurt us?"

"Well...we'd have the shark. Don't you see the shark?"

"_YesIseetheshark_!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"You don't see _any_ problem with this at all, Penny?"

"The girl on the radio said that we didn't have to go if we didn't want to. But I do. And I can't do this alone, Djang. The message went out to all of the Girls. Milly probably heard it too. And I know (she pointed at herself) and _you_ know (she pointed at him) that she would do anything for her troop and her friends, even if it's dangerous."

Django slouched slightly, knowing that the blonde was right.

"And I know for a fact that she would do anything for _you_."

His eyes widened at her statement. "What?"

"Oh, come off it, Djang," Penny said dismissively. "We all _know_ that you two are head-over-heels with each other, even if you don't _say_ anything. You guys don't exactly keep it very well hidden."

He was determined not to keep his face from going too red. "We're...just friends, Penny. We're not together."

"...Right. You're not together. And there's totally _not_ a giant mechanical shark in your backyard."

Django readied another comeback at her, but a sudden static sound emitting from the metal shark interrupted him.

"_Girls and boys of the Tri-State Area..."_

Penny and Django both turned at the sound of the voice, which was coming out of a radio taped to the head of the shark. Penny peered at it, her eyes narrowing.

"Hey, isn't that your friend Phineas?"

"Yes, it is," Django said. "I thought you said there was already a message sent out."

Penny nodded. "There was. But that was just meant for the troops. Maybe he's talking to other people."

"_This is Phineas Flynn, here with my brother, Ferb Fletcher. As you all are probably aware, there is a situation going on in the city of Danville, and we are in need of your help."  
><em>

Django glanced at Penny. "I presume Isabella said the same thing to you that he's going to say to everyone else."

She nodded quietly, taking in Phineas' speech.

"_I can't tell you the exact details of what has already happened to us today, but trust me when I say you probably wouldn't believe it. However, the only thing you guys need to know now is that there is an evil man out there who wants to take over the city. And he will do so if we don't do something about it._

"_What you have in front of you are some of our creations that we've made over the summer. These will be our...weapons, so to speak, to fight these things. Some are more...suited for that task than others, but a wise brother once told me that it's not the invention that matters...it's the creative mind and pilot behind it."_

Django could tell that Phineas was getting more and more nervous as he spoke. He certainly didn't blame him; what he was asking them to do was crazy and certainly dangerous.

"_If any of you decide to come and help, we've equipped every invention with a remote. The green button will let us know you're coming. The yellow button will let you directly control your vehicle, if you are able to. If not, the remote will serve as your control. We're meeting up in the center of the city, so be sure to head there._

"_This is going to be a very dangerous mission, and not one that I'm sure a lot of people would want to take part in. But regardless of whoever comes...I'm not sitting here waiting for us to be ruled over. I hope that there are people out there that feel the same."  
><em>

There was a pause, and Django heard a slight conversation in the background, as if someone was still going over details. After a moment, Phineas' voice was heard again.

"_It would mean a whole lot if you came and helped. Like I said before, I would understand if you didn't. But do come if you can. Phineas Flynn, signing off."_

The static overtook Phineas' voice, and a second later, the radio cut off entirely.

"Wow." Penny seemed to be in another state of mind entirely. "Heavy stuff. I mean, Isabella's speech wasn't exactly all roses and unicorns, but still..." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Kinda puts it in a whole 'nother light, doesn't it?"

Django said nothing, still staring at the radio, lost in his own thoughts.

"Django?" Penny said, poking him in the shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to give you a hard time earlier. If you don't want to come, you don't. I just thought...you'd want to. I can leave if you-"

"No."

"What?"

"No, don't leave." Django turned toward her, his now apparent grin growing even wider. "You're going to need someone to get in the shark, remember?"

Penny paused, then jumped up in exultation. "That's what I'm talking about!" she yelled, hopping into the float and slapping her goggles on. "Get inside. This guppy's taking off!"

Django grabbed the radio off of the head, then hurried inside the open mouth of the shark, the overhead lighting turning itself on as he ran to the control room. The mouth closed behind him as the panels lit up, running numerous amounts of data on the screens. He sat in the main chair, lifting the remote off of the main pedestal. Since he wouldn't need to technically drive the shark, he set it to the side after hitting the green button.

"You ready in there?" Penny's voice radiated through the cabin from the remote.

"Yup. Strapped in."

"Alright, hang on to something. And be sure to keep your hands and feet inside of the shark at all times!"

Django lurched forward as he felt the shark lift off of the ground. Out of the window, he could see the roof of his house go out of his point of view. The city, he saw, was going to be several minutes away at the speed they were going.

"You all right in there, Djang?"

"Yeah," Django responded to Penny, looking over the buttons on the panel. "Just thinking about how crazy this is."

"Well, isn't this like a normal day for Phineas and Ferb?"

"Not exactly normal, but yeah. A 'slightly-less-normal' day for them."

Penny fell silent as Django sat back in his chair. He had always made it a point to go visit those two whenever he could, but with the hectic schedule that he had, it wasn't always easy. It was like him and Milly; there was never enough time in the day for hanging out with her.

Which is why he found it weird to hear Phineas sound so...scared? Worried? It wasn't like him to be like that. Django had always seen the cheerful, excited part of him whenever he was with him. This side was one that he frankly didn't want to hear anymore.

But if Penny bringing up Milly had coaxed him into going with her to the battle, Phineas' plea had put him all in. If there was one thing Django knew how to do, it was to help his friends. And he was going to make sure that he wouldn't let them down.

Django glanced at the radio, Phineas' words still ringing in his ears. Quietly, he said the thought aloud that came to his mind the second Phineas had inquired about the battle.

"Phineas...like you even had to ask."

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE:<strong> Yes, if you guessed Django as the subject of this chapter, you were right. You're still not getting anything relevant, but hey. That's life.

As you can clearly see, this chapter is only half as long as the previous two. I just really couldn't think of a situation similar to Jenny & Albert and the Fireside Girls where it would be just as excitable. I also had to fit the girl who was in the float in this story somehow. Thus...Penny. Milly's cousin.

The next journal on DevArt that I have focusing on shipping pairs will be about Django/Milly, and you can probably already guess some of my personal perception behind it: They _are_ together (in a "best friends/more than best friends" sort of way). It's not a secret to everyone...as much as they want to keep it one. But again, more on that in the journal entry soon to come.

All right, we've only got two chapters left until the end. Chapter 5 will head back to Phineas and co. as they head out to kick some chassis. Expect some...emotional moments to happen. That's all I'm going to say.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	5. Defending the Call

Billy Arratoon (whom I cannot reply to directly since his review was anonymous): I don't have any plans for Candace and Phineas to even talk about her busting in the next two chapters. I'm sure it would be a nice moment to put in the story...if I hadn't already planned out Chapters 5 and 6. There will be a very emotional moment (IMO) in this chapter, but it will not concern her busting.

_**DISCLAIMER:** Yeah, I think you know the dealio by now._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 5 - Defending the Call<strong>_

Phineas sat back from the microphone, having finished his speech to the rest of the kids. Ferb silently stepped forward to put an hand on his shoulder.

"Man, that was tougher than I thought."

"That's OK, Phineas," Isabella said. "We all know this is going to be trouble. I don't feel good about the Fireside Girls either, but it didn't hurt to ask."

Candace was quietly situated next to him, lost in her own thoughts. After Candace had done her speech, she had stepped back, thinking about everything that had happened while Isabella and Phineas were doing their talks and the rest of the group were busy with preparations.

And against her prior thinking, she was excited.

She was still not very fond of the idea of everyone being in danger, but it sure beat sitting around twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the inevitable to happen. And if it meant getting back in her treehouse robot (which she found was still in their possession), then she was all for it.

It did not help, however, that Phineas had been giving her nervous glances for the past few minutes. Her argument with Jeremy had been quite loud; perhaps he had heard a bit of it.

But there was no time to think about that now, because Phineas was speaking up again.

"All right, everyone, Candace and Isabella and I have sent out our messages. There's really nothing else that we can do here. It's time to head out."

"You haven't set all of the stuff out yet, dude," Coltrane said, motioning to the few inventions that were still in the vicinity. Candace could see several that she remembered, including Isabella's kiddie ride and The Beak Suit.

"I know. That's what _we're_ going to use. I'll take Rover (he waved to the giant robotic dog on one of the upper tiers), Ferb will lead the herd of mechanical bulls, Isabella will take her unicorn ride, Buford had the Platy-posterior, and Baljeet will have The Beak suit."

"I got the best one!"

Baljeet sighed. "...Yes, Buford, we know. You have mentioned it several times already."

"Stacy, Jeremy, Coltrane," Phineas continued, turning to the teens, "You guys grab one of the treehouse robots."

"We'll take yours, if you don't mind," Stacy commented.

"That's fine. Doesn't matter."

"Hey, what about me?" Candace asked.

Her brother twisted his head in her direction. "What about you?"

"Well, aren't I going to take the other treehouse?"

"No, you're not."

"Excuse me," Candace stated, sauntering up to Phineas. "You're not going to stick me in my own treehouse thing? I thought that-"

"You're not going."

"...What?"

"You heard me." Phineas' tone was unbelievably firm. "You're not coming with us."

Candace swore that she hadn't heard him correctly. "What are you talking about?"

"This was something Ferb and I agreed on, Candace. It's no offense to you, but I think it's more important for you to stay here than come with us."

She pointed to the other side of the room, toward some platypus-colored suits on the wall. "Talk. _Now._"

The two boys gave no fight as they walked over to where she had pointed. This would have been very suspicious to Candace had she not been fuming over what had been told to her. She marched over to them, hands on her hips. As she bent down to talk to them, she was unsuccessfully trying to keep her voice steady.

"Phineas, why do you not want me to come with you?"

The redhead scratched the back of his ear, looking down at the floor. "We don't want you to get injured, Candace."

"Nope, try again."

"It's no use trying to drag you into something you don't want to do?"

"Wrong."

"Sis, it's just..." He trailed off, desperately not making eye contact with Candace. Concerned, she placed a hand on her brother's shoulder, softening her voice even further.

"Phineas, we're all worried about everyone, you know. Not just you."

"I know," he replied.

"So, you do know what you're getting into, right?"

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I like it. There's a good chance that someone's going to get hurt."

"Is that why you want me to stay behind?

"...Not really."

"Then why?"

It was Ferb who answered her question. "We might need you to do something for us, just in case."

Candace was surprised. She had never heard either of them talk like this before. "Like what, exactly?"

Phineas finally looked his sister in the eyes, now on the verge of tears. "Telling Mom and Dad about us, and what we did. In case...we don't make it back."

"Don't make it..." Candace trailed off, the heaviness of his words slowly settling in.

Phineas saw his sister's face, and quickly rambled the rest of his explanation. "I mean, we all have helmets and we're all going to do the best we can but sometimes things just happen, you know? And if something _does_happen...I mean, someone has to...stay here, right? No use leaving Mom and Dad here-"

Without warning, Phineas and his brother were swept up in Candace's arms, who was hugging them with all of her might. Her tears were falling steadily now, and she could feel her brothers' tears staining her blouse. And she didn't care in the slightest.

So that had been it. It wasn't a matter of being capable, or even a matter of her safety. It was making sure their parents would have someone to ask what exactly had happened today. They didn't want Mom and Dad to be all alone. As far-fetched as a bad situation occurring, it was a shock to think that Phineas and Ferb had taken that into account. It was another reminder of just how much the two of them had grown in the past few hours.

After a long while, Candace let her brothers go, but kept a hand on either of their shoulders. She let out a trembling sigh, shaking off the tears still on her cheeks.

"Phineas...Ferb. I-I'm touched. I really am." Her voice was hoarse, but firm. "But if you guys think that I'm going to sit here and watch as my two baby brothers go off risking their lives to save the world, you are clearly not as smart as you think you are."

"But Candace-"

"No, Phineas, listen to me. Just listen to your sister for _once_. I am _going_ to get into the treehouse robot, I am _going_ to use it outside, and I am _going_ to be right there with you every step of the way. And you are not going to stop me."

The redhead was floored by her words. It had not been long, he reminded himself, since it seemed Candace was against the entire operation.

"Besides, Phineas," she continued, her hand now against his cheek, "Nothing's going to happen to you guys."

"How can you be so certain, Candace?"

The look he received startled him, for it was a determined, fearless expression. It was the same look that he had seen only once before: on the face of the Second Dimension Candace.

"Because I am going to make _damn_ sure of that."

Whatever level of surprise he thought he had achieved just went up another level with her reply. "Candace, you just cursed! You have to put a quarter in the jar when we get back."

Candace couldn't help but giggle at her brother's response. "Consider it my one freebie for the month."

Ferb began to open his mouth, a finger in the air.

"And no, you guys don't get one."

He slowly put his finger back down.

"Maybe when you're older. But not now."

"Now that that's settled," Phineas started, shaking the tears out of his eyes, "We just have one more person that we need to get here."

"And who would that be?" Candace asked.

"Just hold out your hands, and I'll tell you."

She slowly extended her arms forward, not liking where this was going. "Phineas, this had better not be a-"

Out of nowhere, a body came careening from the ceiling, skillfully landing in Candace's arms.

"Well, hellloooo there."

"Irving!" Candace yelped, dropping the boy on the floor. "What are you doing here?"

"Irving's been helping us set up the connections to all of the remotes and inventions," Phineas answered as Ferb helped the bespectacled boy up. "A while ago, we set up a wireless connection that would allow him to stay in touch in case of an emergency. I didn't think we would actually have to use it, but hey, it's a good think we have it."

"Phineas, all the inventions have been delivered to their respected recipients," Irving informed him, a slight salute accompanying his statement. "My brother and some girl came by the house as well, with their rides."

"Some girl?" Candace butted in. "Who was it?"

"I think her name was Jenny, or something. Albert was hardcore flirting with her, though. Said something about his dragon costume, called me a nerd, and ran out."

She snorted, trying not to laugh. "Yeah, Jenny's a little out of his league. I'm sure he found that out early on."

"As much as I would hate to interrupt the not-so-sly flirtations of your older brother, Irving," Ferb interrupted, "I believe it's time to head out."

"Right." Irving walked over with the rest of the group back to the teens, who had been talking amongst themselves since Candace's talk with her brothers. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Almost." Phineas waved the entire group in huddle-style. "Stacy, I've changed my mind. Candace is coming with us, but the robots are still a two-person ride. Coltrane, go with Stacy to her treehouse and help her out. Jeremy, if you can do the same with Candace?"

"That's fine, Phineas," Jeremy said, giving Candace's hand a slight squeeze.

"Cool. Everyone else has their delegations except for Irving. Irv, you go into The Beak suit with Baljeet. You two can probably operate it just as well as Ferb and I can."

"Wait a minute," Buford interjected. "Why can't I be part of The Beak suit? I'm great with legs."

"Because Buford, you're too big to fit in the bottom of the suit. Irving is smaller than you. Plus, you don't have the wherewithal to operate the panel."

"What did ya just call my mother?"

Isabella smacked the bully in the arm, shutting him up. "Be quiet, Buford."

"And besides, Buford," Ferb said, eyeing him, "I thought you _wanted_ the Platy-posterior."

"I do! I'm just testing y'all!"

Phineas shook his head slightly, as if he was contemplating how odd Buford could be. "Anyways, we're all set! Let's go!" On that order, the gang split up and went off to their respected inventions.

"Man, your brothers really built this, Candace?" Jeremy wondered. His girlfriend had helped him up to the hand of the treehouse robot, which was now lifting them up to the cockpit located inside the head.

"Yup," Candace replied. "That was actually a pretty good day, when I think about it. Especially the water balloons."

"What?"

"Oh, you'll see." She nimbly jumped into the eye of the head, Jeremy close behind. She ran to the main controller, picking it up in a festive manner. "Oh baby, it's like I've never left," she murmured, stroking it in her hands.

"...Ummm...Candace, what do I..."

"Sorry. Stacy was with me the first time. Weapons station is the other seat."

_"Man, moving your boy around like a boss, Candy!"_

Candace smirked as her best friend's voice came over the radio on the dashboard. "I'm not 'moving' him, Stacy. I'm merely instructing him. Besides, where is _your_ boyfriend?"

There was a slight pause, then Stacy's voice boomed over the radio. "_Yes, Coltrane, they're _real_ bells and whistles; get over here!"_

Jeremy and Candace laughed out loud as they could only imagine the Asian girl steering Coltrane into the copilot's seat. They did not have long to relish in their laughter, however, as an alarm went off all around the lair.

"That's the docking bay opening, guys!" Phineas yelled from atop his robotic steed. "Everyone ready to go?"

"Ready!"

"Affirmative!"

"I'm always ready, Dinnah Bell!"

Candace mirrored her stepbrother's thumbs up in response.

"All right then, let's go!"

The teenage couple lurched forward as the platform they were on began to slowly move upward. Jeremy glimpsed at Candace, who was monitoring the numbers on her panel.

"You OK, Candace?"

She sighed loudly. "Yeah, for now."

"Don't worry," he said, covering her hand with his. "You'll be fine."

He saw the redhead stare at the nearby robotic dog, her little brother mounted on the top, baseball launcher on his back.

"...It's not me I'm worried about."

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE:<strong> Not really much to say here. The chapter speaks for itself.

Irving's connection is sort of the thing that ties this all together. He was the reason why they were able to contact everyone when no one else was able to. Give Irving some credit; he's been taught to know what to do with P&F in an emergency.

One chapter to go. Good gravy, I will be happy when this story is finished. I'll finally be able to focus on my holiday stuff then.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	6. Answering the Call

_**Disclaimer: **All characters and ideas of P&F are owned by Dan, Jeff, and Disney._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 6 - Answering the Call<strong>_

The center of the city was surprisingly calm, given that the robots seemed to have overtaken every other part of it. Perhaps this was because Phineas was able to guide them down side streets and alleyways. Of course, the treehouse robots had a much more difficult time of being incognito (with them being almost the size of the buildings they were hiding and all), but the gang made it to the gathering without a hitch.

Phineas only hoped that the rest of the guys would make it there OK. Whatever ones were coming, anyway.

"How many people were you expecting to show up, Phineas?" Candace asked. Her robot was kneeled on the ground, its face confusing the one of Rover, who was whining at it.

"I don't know, Candace. To be quite honest, I wasn't sure that anyone was going to. This is dangerous, after all."

"Don't worry, Phineas," Isabella replied, hovering over her neighbor's shoulder. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. We didn't have any people decline, remember? You saw that on your panel."

He sighed, checking his watch again. "I'm going to give them a couple more minutes, and then we're going to go ourselves, OK?"

"_No need, Phineas._"

He paused. Apparently he had forgotten to turn off his radio frequency. The tone of the voice answering him was a surprise. "Albert? Is that you?"

"_You got it, twerp. Me and Jenny are here right now. And we got a few people who want to say hi._"

Phineas started to answer back, but before he could, the ground began to rumble underneath Rover's feet, vibrating up to him.

"Holy guacamole!" Stacy exclaimed, getting her treehouse robot standing again. "Are those robots coming now?"

"Those aren't the robots."

"What?"

Phineas turned on the spot, peering down the street. "...Those are our guys."

Over the horizon, the rest of the group saw a giant mass coming toward them. But it most certainly was not the robots. It was their friends and the inventions. Machinations of all shapes and sizes, being piloted by people who they instantly recognized.

Jenny and Albert pulled up next to Candace and Stacy, the former yelling her praise to her long-haired friend.

Django landed down next to Ferb, who gave him a thumbs-up.

The Fireside Girls flew up to them in their contraptions, met by a jubilant Isabella.

Countless other Big Ideas accompanied by his closest friends and confidants filed around them.

It was everyone. _Everyone._ He had sent out all of the inventions in the lair...and not a single person failed to show.

"I...don't even know what to say, guys," Phineas said, wiping the oncoming tears from his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you for coming."

"Come on, Phineas, you didn't think we were going to miss this, would you? We're here to kick some robot butt!" Django yelled from the robotic shark. The other kids started yelling their consents as well, all molding into one giant cheer for him.

Phineas shook the tears off of his cheeks. This was more than anything he could've imagined. It was a testament to what great friends he had...but he need to focus. Now that everyone was there, it was time to put the plan into action.

"All right, guys, we're going to get to the robots in a moment, but first we need to find Perry."

A wave of confusion went through the crowd, highlighted by Holly's look of utter bewilderment. "Wait, what?" Holly asked from her sleigh. "What does Perry have to do with this?"

"Perry has _everything_ to do with this," Isabella said, flying over to her. "When we find him, it will be that much easier to commence with the robots."

"Exactly," Phineas affirmed. "Anyone who spots Perry is to immediately call in with the radios that are in the inventions. Then press the large red button in your vehicle. It will send out a homing signal that will let us go to your location. And _then_," he finished, "We'll focus on the robots."

The crowd nodded, taking in his instructions.

"We need to split up, if only for now. We can cover more ground that way." He looked at the gang of inventions there, a sudden thought coming in his mind. "Although I haven't exactly figured out how we're going to delegate who goes where."

"Oh my goodness," Candace yelled. "Really, Phineas? Here, I'll delegate."

"What?"

Ignoring her brother, she pointed her treehouse arm to a group of kids. "You twerps, take the north part. Try to stay out of sight until we find Perry, OK? Now go."

The kids were hesitant in taking orders from her, but a stern look from Isabella changed their minds quickly. "You heard her, guys! Go!"

As they headed out, Candace focused her gaze at the next group. "You guys! Go east of here. There's a lot of back alleys over in that part; make sure to check them all."

They nodded firmly, not questioning her at all.

As she continued to bark out orders to everyone, Phineas' mind once again trailed back to the Alternate Dimension Candace, the one that supposedly was nothing like his sister. Looking up at her as she pointed in every direction, he thought that maybe, just maybe...they weren't so different after all.

"Jenny, can you take Lover-Boy and check near the stadium? You two should be able to scan that out no problem."

"Yes, ma'am!" Jenny saluted. "C'mon, Albert. We got work to do."

"Did you hear that?" he said as they drove away. "She called me 'Lover-Boy'."

"...I also heard the bucket of sarcasm in her voice, too."

As the two went off, that just left the original group to disperse. Phineas turned toward his neighbor, who was now alongside her troop. "Isabella, you take the girls and be our eyes and ears. If anyone's going to be able to see Perry first, it'll be you guys. Just try to avoid the robots, OK?"

"You got it, Phineas!" Isabella saluted. She wheeled around to face her friends. "You heard him, girls. Let's get a move on!"

"Aye aye, Chief!" the group answered as they began to set off toward the denser part of town.

Phineas began to watch her fly off. A sudden dreary feeling came over him, and before he could stop, he found himself yelling after her.

"Isabella!"

She stopped in mid-air and rotated her ride back toward the redhead. "Yes, Phineas?"

He wasn't sure why he was about to say what was in his mind. It had only bubbled up the moment that she had began to leave.

"...Be careful."

If Phineas had not been preoccupied with his thoughts, he surely would have seen the blush resonating on Isabella's cheeks. She shifted slightly in her seat, gripping the reins with determination. "Don't worry, Phineas. I will." With a slight tinge to her cheeks, she was off, leading her troop out west.

He watched her disappear around the far corner of a building, then noticed Candace's face sporting an ear-to-ear grin. "What?"

His sister rolled her eyes, clearly amused about something beyond Phineas' comprehension. "Oh...no reason."

Deciding against any sort of interrogation, Phineas looked at Baljeet and Buford. "You two stay together and check around the arcades. That's the last place that I can think of that he could be at."

"You got it, dude!" Baljeet shouted. "Let's go, Nerd! I got some stompin' to do!"

"You do realize, Buford, that you are merely a bottom, while Irving and I are a complete person?"

"Yeah, but you only need the butt!"

Baljeet paused. "...I am not going to comment on that."

As the two rolled out, Phineas fiddled with the settings on his radio. This was the part that was going to be difficult. Something that he knew he had to do the moment they had left the safety of the lair.

"Candace, Stacy, I need you guys to go from building to building up top and get an overlay of the city. You guys have the best inventions for that."

"What?" Candace was definitely angry now. "I thought we were staying with you guys!"

"Candace, I need you up there. You'll still be able to keep an eye on us. It's probably better this way, anyway."

"Phineas-"

"Come on, girl, your brother's got a point," Stacy interjected. "You'll be able to see everyone from above, including him."

Candace sighed loudly. She knew that Phineas was right once again; there was no point in arguing this time. She turned to Jeremy, who silently nodded.

"All right, let's go, Stace." She began to climb the nearest skyscraper, Stacy's treehouse robot at her heels.

"OK, Ferb, we got a platypus to find," Phineas said. "We should get-"

"FERB!"

The pair of kids looked up to see Candace's robot pausing a quarter of the way up the building, pointing a long wooden arm at her sibling.

"YOU LOOK AFTER YOUR BROTHER, OK?"

Ferb gave her a thumbs-up as she continued up to the top of the building, where she jumped to the next one with ease, Stacy right behind. A few bounds later, she was out of sight.

"All right," Phineas sighed, steadying himself on the back of Rover. "Let's do this." He double-stomped on to the mechanical dog, and it leaped forward down the street, Ferb closely in two.

He knew that Perry was going to be near the center of action, so it made sense for them to try to find him in proximity to Dr. D's building. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to get there, right?

* * *

><p>...OK, it <em>was<em> going to be that hard.

Only about ten minutes had passed, but the amount of activity that had been going on had skyrocketed. The plan of keeping low and trying to locate Perry in secret was pretty much shot; most of the kids and teenagers had been spotted by the robots and were now trying to elude them. Buford himself had taken out about a dozen robots himself; Phineas heard his whoops of celebration loud and clear through the walkie.

"_Yeah, this was a great plan, Phineas,_" Candace yelled through the radio. "_How exactly were we suppose to keep this quiet again?"_

"We got to the center of the city undetected, didn't we?" he shouted back.

"_Yes, but that was just us, Phineas. They're going to figure out that a ton of people are going around the city when they aren't suppose to."_

Phineas did not respond. Hearing the grunts and screams from some of his friends over the radio was already tough enough to hear; he didn't need Candace reminding him that they were in serious danger.

"_And on another point, I—AAAHHH!"_

"_Candace!_" he screamed throught the radio. He didn't need this, not now. He didn't want to think about what had happened to her just then.

He could hear a cough from the background, and the voice of Jeremy on the other end. "_She's fine, Phineas. We just had a bunch of robots blindside us into a building; luckily, a bunch of tires wrapped around us and cushioned the blow._"

Phineas was relieved to hear that, although the words that Candace was using now would surely ensure a few more dollars into the family cursing jar.

"_That is __**it!**_" Candace's shrill voice came roaring back into his ear. "_Those robots are so-_"

"...Sis, is everything all right?"

"_I see him!_"

"What?" He brought Rover to a halt, Ferb's bulls trampling a stray automaton behind him. "Where?"

"_A few blocks ahead of you, Phineas,_" Jeremy replied, Candace yelling in the background again. _"We saw him duck onto Amber Street. You look like you're the closest one to him. We would go grab him, but we're a little preoccupied at the moment."_

"All right, thanks." Phineas clipped his walkie to his belt, then turned to his brother. "C'mon, Ferb, let's go." The two brothers rode down the main street, Phineas counting the roads until Amber Street.

"Bro, see if you can't cut him off. He doesn't know that we're coming for him; we may be able to get him before any robots do."

Ferb nodded, steering his bull and the rest of the pack down the next side street, leaving Phineas alone.

The redhead turned onto Amber, expecting to see Perry on the other side of the building. He did...

But he wasn't alone.

A very large amount of robots were around what appeared to be a group of animals, corraled together by the robot-made circle. Phineas could only guess that they were also agents just like Perry was. Speaking of the platypus, he was hopping from one mech to another in an attempt to confuse them into destroying each other. He was doing a very good job, but he could see that it would be a moot point if he didn't do something.

"Candace," Phineas said, stopping Rover and grabbing his walkie, "I see him. But he has company. And not the good kind either."

"_Let us get there, Phineas. We can be there in about-"_

"There's not enough time, Sis. I'm going to have to go in."

"_Phineas!"_ Candace was livid now. _"Do __**not **__do anything stupid!"_

"Yeah, well," Phineas replied, "It's a little too late for that." Before she could respond, he clicked off the walkie, his anger rising up. Without a second thought, he stomped the large red button on Rover, sending out the homing signal to the rest of his friends.

He flipped open a compartment on the top of Rover, depositing the radio inside. He pulled out the one thing he actually considered a "weapon": the remote-controlled baseball launcher he had built earlier in the summer.

Phineas took one last glance upward, realizing that Dr. D's building was in clear sight. The portal was still as big as ever, and the robots coming through were just as large as before. The emotions that he had suppressed during the entire operation were now threatening to boil over.

He didn't blame Dr. D. At least, not _their_ Dr. D. The Alternate Dimension one was someone that needed to be taken down. There was no way he would let that man take everything from him.

"You think you can just come here and take over the city?" he said to himself, wishing that the evil man could hear him. "Well, you're mistaken. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you get taken down. You messed with the wrong city..."

He brought the launcher up, cocking it back.

"You messed with the wrong people..."

He peered down the sights, aiming for the head of the mech currently pinning Perry to the wall.

"...And you messed with the _wrong _platypus."

And he fired.

_**THE END**_

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE<strong>: Holy cow, you have no idea how happy I am that this story is finished.

This entire story is a shining example of what happens when you don't plan ahead. I originally brought this story out when I thought that I could pump it out as fast as one of my one-shots.

Yeah...trying to write a 4-6 chapter story in the span that I usually took to write one chapter? Bad idea.

And I have to tell you the truth. I understandably lost interest in this story. As more time passed from the airing of _Across the Second Dimension_, the more I didn't feel like writing it. Other, better ideas came into my head, and this was put on the back burner.

I _am _glad that I am finally done with this. Thank you to everyone who's read it, thank you to everyone who's reviewed, and thank you to everyone who has waited patiently for this story to be updated. I'm sorry you had to wait so long. Trust me, I will make sure that I will not let this happen again.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


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